


Unburied

by RiotReign



Series: Miss Me With That Straight Shit [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Borrowed Concepts, F/F, If You Squint - Freeform, Lesbians, McHanzo - Freeform, Rating May Change, Tags May Change, gays, original concepts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-11 11:43:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16474913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiotReign/pseuds/RiotReign
Summary: Having been expelled from the college of Winterhold for dabbling with necromancy in the pursuit of gaining a better undertanding of life and therein finding a more practical healing method, Moira is infamous in the acedemic community and had been exiled. That hasn't stopped her in her pursuit for knowledge though. Now she believes she has a lead reguarding a new medical discovery lying in wait. Waiting to be unburied.While studing at the college of Winterhold, Angela has heard strange reports of an odd variant of nirnroot. Believing this plant to have undiscovered healing properties, she takes it upon herself to investigate these claims. Hoping against hope that the rewards for diving head first into Dwemer ruins will be worth the dangers of anything lying in wait.





	1. Chapter 1

Sundas, 11:15 PM, 28th of Frostfall, 4E

It had been three years since Moira's exile. Three years since they discovered the nature of her experiments at the college. Three years of hiding, fighting, and running for her life. Yet dispite it all, she had made exponential progress in her research. Thanks to the colleges' persistence, she rarely had trouble finding test subjects. 

Her most recent catch, a young Breton mage from the college clearly inexperience and hot-headed merely looking for fame and glory, walked straight into one of the ice runes that Moira had placed around the forest that obscured her cottage, thoroughly freezing the mage solid. How long she had been there before Moira happened upon her is anyone's guess, but hardly Moira's main concern. No, this woman would make a fine subject for her latest experiment. 

Only after dragging the mage back to her cottage and properly securing her to a chair did Moira administer a thawing potion. 

Upon seeing her captor, recognition along with a brief moment of fear flashed in the woman's eyes and she immediately started yelling profanities and curses. Going on and on about how she would never tell Moira any of the colleges' plans or activities, regardless of whatever dastardly torture Moira had in store for her. And although that thought had honestly not crossed Moira's mind until now. Moira knew the value of taking advantage of an opportunity when it presented itself. 

"My you're quick to jump to conclusions." Moira said voice carrying more ice than any rune ever could.

"I'm not telling you anything. So do your worst." The young mage retorted. 

Though the girl was visibly shaking, Moira had to admit she was almost impressed by the woman's bravado. Almost. Though the mage made a fatal mistake. She challenged Moira. It was enough to make Moira laugh. And so she did. Which only served to make the Breton look even more shaken.

"Dear, one way or another whether you're dead or alive, you will speak. The only question now is how much pain you can handle before that body of yours gives out?" Moira says after she composed herself.

\--POV Shift--

Morndas, 12:10 PM, 29th of Frostfall, 4E

Angela is awoken by the sound of a large explosion above her.

After sitting up and letting out a quiet groan she hastily did a sweep of her room only to find everything where she had left it the night before. She had spent most of her nights recently, pouring over ancient tomes and going over her own notes until her eyes felt like they would bleed. And after what felt like eons Angela was forced to come to a conclusion. The last two years that she had been at the College of Winterhold, working endlessly on her potentially life saving medical research, had finally led her to a dead end. 

To say she was frustrated would be the understatement of the era. So to be woken so rudely after having to come to terms with her failure was enough to push her over the edge. 

Before she could think twice about it, she was on her feet and climbing the stairwell that led from her dorms to the roof. 

She had planned to locate the source of the commotion and have a few lovely words with whoever was responsible. Once she reached the roof of the college she gave the place a quick once over immediately locating the culprits. 

Standing on the rooftop several meters away stood none other than Jesse McCree and Hanzo Shimada, two of the more seasoned mages that the college had to offer. Both stood perfectly still clearly in a dazed stupor. Upon hearing the door close behind Angela, Jesse seemed to snap out of his daze. 

"Good mornin' Doc." He greeted cheerfully, using the nickname that seemed to stick after a particularly bad illness swept through the village last year.

"Natürlich bist du zwei." She said in her annoyance, slipping into her first language.

"I'm gonna assume that means 'good mornin'." Jesse retorted.

"It doesn't. What are you two doing up here?" She asked incredulously.

"We found something interesting on our latest excavation." Hanzo replied cooly. "It is proving to be exciting." Hanzo continued nodding to a training dummy that had been dragged up here from gods only know where. 

It is only then that Angela notices a dummy that had been placed precariously close to the walls edge. And upon closer investigation noticed a large hole where the doll's chest used to be. 

"What exactly did you find on your last adventure?" She asked, all but forgetting why she had come up here in the first place.

"We founds some journals with diagrams on how to build elemental crossbow bolts." Hanzo answered. 

"And how does that apply to the arcane arts?" Angela asked, annoyance giving way to curiosity. 

"Well the idea, doc, is that if we can get a better understading of how all this works, we may be able to make a spell tome that'll provide unlimited bolts. At least for a breif period of time that is, seein' as the resources needed to make these bolts are hard to come by." McCree finished. 

Angela had to admit, after seeing the damage those bolts could do, having an unlimited amount of them could prove to be very useful. 

"Well I look forward to seeing the progress you make in your latest endeavor. Though I wish you would be quieter about it." Angela said. 

"Sorry for the disruption doc, we'll try to keep it down for ya." Jesse said.

"Tell her about the other journal we found." Hanzo inserted. 

"What journal?" She asked. Curiosity worse than ever.

"Well we found a journal that doesn't exactly go with the rest of 'em. Don't know what it was doin' there, but it might be just your thing." It outta be in my dorm room sittin on the dresser." Jesse said all while handing Hanzo another bolt. 

Angela quickly realized she didn't want to be anywhere near these two while they were testing their newest toy and made a tactical retreat back to the dorm rooms. And not a moment too soon in her opinion, seeing that as soon as she closed the door to the stairwell she hear another explosion followed shortly by a string of choice words from McCree himself. 

As she descended, Angela couldn't help but wonder what those two could have found that could possibly peak her interest. And despite the curiosity that was gnawing away at her, she managed to keep a nice calm pace as she went. Having reached the bottom she made her way to McCree's room. Faster than she would like to admit but she was in desperate need of a distraction. 

Upon reaching her destination, she made short work of locating said distraction. Just as he said, lying on his dresser was an old tattered journal. Much to Angela's dismay, nothing about this journal's appearance seemed to indicate that it was in any way different from the countless other books and tomes that she had studied. If anything she was a little disappointed by its lackluster appearance. But not being one to judge a book by its cover and not having anything better to do, Angela picked the book up and opened it to the first page.

"Sinderion's Field Journal" she read quietly, knowing that she had heard the name before but not being able to remember where from. 

' _I've spent a large portion of my life unraveling the mystery of the nirnroot and yet I still feel unfulfilled _.'__

____

____

Angela sympathized for this 'Sinderion' knowing very well what they must have felt like. But didn't get to continue seeing that fate chose now for a particularly loud explosion to sound upstairs, followed by a brief moment of silence then by an all too familiar scream. 

And like that, the journal was forgotten as Angela turned on her heel and made her way back up the stairwell for the second time in an hour. Hoping this was just a stupid joke, but not being able to stop the dread that was making itself at home in her chest.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not putting spoilers here. You wanna know what happens? Read the damn chapter.

Middas, 7:25AM, 31st of Frostfall, 4E

Three days. That's how long it had taken to break the young mage. The mage whose name Moira now knew to be Alice. 

Day 1

Having quickly grown bored of her captive's stubbornness, Moira decided that a more intensive treatment would be necessary for this particular subject. And Moira knew just the treatment she needed. Afterall, what was more intense than throwing the mage into a pit filled with all her past test subjects?

Day 2

The results were..entertaining to say the least. 

The following morning when Moira went to see if the mage lived, she found Alice huddled in the corner closest to the door. 

"Are you ready to talk now or would you like another day to get to know your new friends?" Moira asked. As if on que, a quiet groan filled the chamber behind the girl. 

"No, no I'll speak. Just get me out of here" Alice replied. 

"What. Not enjoying Wonderland?" Came Moira's coy response. 

"I said I'll talk. Now get me out of here." Alice said, sounding a little more tense as the noises were growing closer now. 

"I daresay you've not had many lessons in manners." Moira quoted. 

At this point the source of the sound was almost upon the young girl and Moira could see the fear in her eyes, dispite the only source of light coming from the stairwell that Moira had entered from. 

"I'll tell you anything, so please get me out of here." Alice said. 

"Very good adjustment." Moira said as she turned on her heel and began to ascend the stairwell.

"Wait. WAIT!! You said you would get me out of here." The mage called behind her. 

"I never said anything of the sort. Maybe tomorrow you will have better manners so we can get on with this faster." Moira replied. 

"Wait. What if I die?" The mage asked, no longer trying to hide her fear. 

Moira turned at this and looked at the mage, no past the mage, into the darkness and saw what the mage was too focused on her captor to see. 

"You will die. Painfully. Again and again. Until you decide to cooperate, your death will be your life." Moira said, quietly before continuing her trek upstairs.

As she reached the top of the stair and began to close the door, she tried to ignore the screaming and crying and then ultimately the silence that filled the space below. 

Day 3/Present Day

The morning after, Moira went to examine and collect what remained of the mage. She wasn't surprised to find petite bones strewn about the small cavern. 

"Ren." She called out into the inky abyss.

"Ren come!" she called again after a few moments of silence. 

Almost immediately a female draugr emerged from the dark. 

"Ren, retrieve Alice's bones and bring them to me." Moira said.

Moira had learned long ago not to step foot into the pit. Not all of her experiments had forgotten her and none of them had forgiven her. The proof of that was permanently engrained into her right arm. 

A particularly nasty experiment had gone awry.

She made the mistake of making one of her creations intelligent. A beast so terrible it couldn't even be allowed to socialize with the rest of her rejects. Instead it lied in a permanently frozen state on an entirely different plane of Oblivion. 

But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. She had more immediate concerns to deal with. 

As Ren brought her the mage's remains she started going through her mental checklist of all the materials she needed for this ritual. 

Before she headed back up the stairs she went to the far wall and retrieved the soul gem she had placed there days ago. She knew this would happen. She planned for this to happen. Now all she had to do was bring the mage back. Bound and broken, she would be unable to hide anything from Moira. 

And as she had expected after her reanimation, the husk of Alice told her everything she knew. And after sifting through an ungodly amount of insignificant knowledge, something the mage said finally caught her attention. 

The mage mentioned a rumor she had heard on her travels. Something about a rare variant of nirnroot. She mentioned the arch mage of the college taking special interest in this particular strain and Moira knew she had to have it. Partially out of curiosity and partially out of spite. 

"One last question before I let you rest dear. Moira said. "Where can I find this Crimson Nirnroot?" 

\--POV Change--

Morndas, 12:55 PM, 29th of Frostfall, 4E

When Angela got to roof she took in the scene and was almost sorry that she did. 

Several meters away, where she had been not an hour prior, laid McCree. He was facedown, surrounded by blood, seemingly unmoving.

Hanzo sat beside him clearly shaken, almost on the verge of tears. 

Angela rushed to Jesse's side. Evaluating the damage as best as she could without disturbing his body. 

"What happened to him? She asked, doing her best to keep her voice from shaking. 

Hanzo didn't reply.

"Hanzo, I need to know what happened." She said again. This time more forcefully. 

"The bolts. Something went wrong with the bolts. We were only supposed to be observing the explosive bolts today, but..." Hanzo trailed off, clearly not having fully recovered from his shock.

"But what Shimada? I need to know." Angela asked urgency making her impatient.

"I made these. I should know every bolt that went into this quiver, and yet somehow a flame bolt got mixed in. McCree, he pulled the bolt out too quickly. It caused a spark and then everything went up in flames, but not before he pushed me out of the way. Angela he saved my life. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but please save him." Hanzo said quietly.

As Hanzo finished his story Angela looked over the damage one more time. Upon closer examination she could see that Jesse was still breathing, not much, but enough. 

"Okay, Hanzo I need you to listen closely. Head down to the Restoration Wing and have them send a stretcher. I'm going to try and get him stabilized in the meantime. Do you understand?" Angela said calmly.

"I understand Doctor." Hanzo replied.

And like that he was off and Angela was left alone. 

After what felt like hours, but realistically couldn't have been more than a few minutes, three mages from the medical wing emerged from the stairwell with Hanzo in tow. 

Two of the mages busied themselves with loading Jesse onto the stretcher. The third came over and asked Angela for details of the event so a report could be made. After explaining as best as she was able to, the mage thanked her for her help and informed her that the arch mage may like to ask a few questions of his own after they had taken care of this incident.

As they rushed Jesse to the Restoration wing they informed Angela and Hanzo that until they knew the extent of the damage, they wouldn't be allowing any visitors. After a few choice words from both Angela and Hanzo they conceded knowing that this was what was best for Jesse.

The rest of the day was agony. Not knowing what was happening to their friend only made it worse. 

Finally, about an hour after sunset, one of the mages emerged from Jesse's room to inform them that not only was Jesse stable but he was also awake. 

As they entered the room they were both relieved to see Jesse wide awake and grumbling at one of the other mages from the roof. 

"I said I was fine. Now would you mind if my friends and I spoke alone?" McCree asked. 

"I suppose that is fine, so long as they don't do anything to agitate you." The mage replied.

"The only thing agitating me right now-" McCree began. 

"Okay." Angela interupted "That's enough of that. Now if you'll excuse us, we have some personal matters to discuss." Angela said to the mages.

Although they didn't seem particularly thrilled about it, the mages relented but not before letting McCree know that they would be right outside his door should he need anything. 

"Before you start, I'd like you to know that I'm incredibly sorry for this. Never did I think that my negligence would cause so much grief." Hanzo said.

"Oh that's enough of that. I'm not blaming you for what happened today." McCree said. 

"But I'm the reason you almost died." Hanzo continued.

"I said, that's enough. McCree repeated. 

"I don't need apologies right now. What I need is a competent doc to check my wounds. Angela, would you mind?" McCree asked.

"Not at all, but you just had three mages looking after you. What makes you think I'll find something they didn't?" Angela asked.

"Hard to explain, but somethin' doesn't sit right with me about them." Jesse replied.

Until now Jesse's body had mostly been obscured by a blanket, but as Angela peeled it back she saw the extent of the damage.

It wasn't a secret that Jesse had lost his left arm in an acciedent years ago, so the missing limb wasn't her main concern. What did concern her were the burns that now stretched from his shoulder to his chest.

"How did you lose your arm, if you don't mind me asking?" Angela asked trying to make small talk. 

"Listen, I made a little lady very angry one time, and she made sure that I would never forget it." McCree replied.

"Wait. A little girl did that to you?" Angela asked. 

"Well more accurately, it was a massive automaton she had built from scratch." McCree said.

"Did you at least get its arm as well?" Hanzo asked.

"What? No way. Bob is the sweetest automaton that I've ever met." McCree retorted.

"But it ripped your arm off. Also, Bob? Who names a killing machine Bob?" Hanzo asked.

"Arm or no arm, Bob is still the sweetest machine I've ever met. And the name, mind you is an acronym. B dot O dot B. I think it stands for Big Ol' Boy." McCree said. 

"Boys, if you're done I've finished my checkup. After close observation, I have decided that the damage caused from the explosion is mostly superficial. That is the good news." Angela said.

"What's the bad news doc?" Jesse

"Well, there are a few burns that will require a special salve. One of which I don't have the ingredients for at the moment." Angela replied

"What do we do now then?" Hanzo

"Well, I'll bet they have the items that I need in the next town over." Angela said.

"Angela you can't seriously be thinking about travelling at a time like this." McCree said.

"We've all heard the rumors of mages being kidnapped, killed, or simply going missing, never to be seen again." Hanzo said, his normally stoic expression giving way to worry for the second time today.

"I'm not about to let you put yourself in danger because of me." McCree stated.

"Listen, the way I see it you have maybe a week before infection set in with the worst of your burns. And infection means amputation at this point. That being said, we simply can't afford to be amputating anymore of your arm. The damage from your past endeavors is already cutting dangerously close to your heart." Angela said.

"Angela, surely there must be another way to go about doing this. One that doesn't put you in danger." Hanzo said.

"Well, you are more than welcome to think more on this but I will not stand idly by while my friends are injured. Especially knowing that there is something I can do to alleviate the pain. Now if you'll excuse me, there are preperations to be made." Angela said before starting of to her dorm to prepare supplies for her journey. 

Tomorrow she would set of for Dawnstar in a battle against time, nature, and an unknown enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely zoned out while I was writing Moira's excerpt. By the time I zoned back in it was already written and I was VERY confused.
> 
> Also. I was brainstorming earlier and realized that I may make this into a multi-part series. Idk, we'll see.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple questions get answered. Even more get raised. You know how it goes.

Turdas, 10:25AM, 1st of Sun's Dusk, 4E

To Moira's dismay, the results of her interrogation with Alice proved to be practically useless. She had one lead. One lead that Alice knew practically nothing about. And by extension, one lead that Moira now knew practically nothing about. 

All Alice could tell her was that the ingredient she was looking for was located up north. As obnoxious as it was knowing so little about her target, Moira also knew that the college was interested in this Crimson Nirnroot. So it must have some sort of potential. Right? 

That's what she told herself anyway as she picked up her pace, eager to get out of the cold as quickly as possible. She had left yesterday around noon and began her journey to Dawnstar. She disliked the place. It was too cold and worse, too close. Too close to the place where she had been forced to flee from. 

But she was worrying too much. She had a disguise that should conceal her identity from any curious eyes. Or so she hoped. 

She couldn't be seen so close to Winterhold. Word of her location would spread quickly and get back to them within a few days. And apparently whatever she needed was around here somewhere. She simply couldn't afford to have the College's hounds sniffing around. 

Moira was so lost in her own thoughts that she hardly noticed the forest she was traveling through taper off. It wasn't until she passed two mages from the Hall of the Vigilant that she was reminded that there were other people who would like to see her dead. But it was fine, they were just going to pass and be on their way.

"Excuse me ma'am."

An impressive combination of words ran through her mind at that moment. 

"Ma'am, have you seen or heard anything unusual lately?" One of them asked. 

"I can't say that I have." She responded, suddenly very glad she opted to wear a mask today. 

"Are you sure? We've been getting strange reports lately, a lot of people are going missing?" The other inquired.

"I can assure you that I have neither seen nor heard anything suspicious recently." She reiterated. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get out of the cold at some point today." 

With that, she continued on her way. Using every ounce of her self control not to look back or run. How she would like to see that hall of thiers burn some day.

She sighed in relief when the village of Dawnstar finally came into view. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so happy to see this place. Shortly after entering Dawnstar proper she turned right and followed the path until she reached her destination. 

The Mortar and Pestle a fine apothecary shop which would hopefully carry that which she was after. Upon entering the shop she was slightly annoyed to find the shopkeeper already preoccupied with another customer. She decided to browse the merchant's stock while she waited for them to finish. 

After what seemed like ages the customer finally finished her business and was about to leave when she turned abruptly and asked the residing apothecary if she had ever heard of Crimson Nirnroot. Moira nearly dropped the potion she had been examining. Moira slowly turned to get a better look at this mage, trying her best to be discreet. 

What she saw was a young woman, blonde, and petite, dressed in mage robes that had an all too familiar insignia adorning them. Shit. How had Moira not noticed before? This was a mage from the College of Winterhold.

Every nerve in her body was telling her to run. To put as much distance as she could between herself and this woman. She had already had enough close encounters for one day. But something else held her in place. As much as she wanted to avoid an altercation in such a public place, she wanted answers more. 

So she stayed and acted as though she was engrossed by the potions that were on display, while simultaneously eavesdropping on the conversation happening a short distance away. 

\--POV Change--

Turdas, 10:00AM, 1st of Sun's Dusk, 4E

It had been three days since Angela had set out on her journey. 

She had spent the evening of the accident packing a satchel full of things she would need on her journey. Food, gold, potions, and as a last thought Sinderion's Field Journal. She left that night and paid for the wagon outside of town to take her to Dawnstar. 

Even with the added speed of the wagon, it had taken almost two days to reach her destination. By the time they arrived at Dawnstar, it was well into the evening and she knew that she wouldn't find any shops open at this time. So she opted to rent a room at the Windpeak Inn until morning. 

She lay in bed after securing a room. Despite being on the road for two days straight and not getting much rest during that time, Angela couldn't bring herself to sleep. Finally, she decided that if she was going to be awake she may as well be productive. With that she reached over and fished Sinderion's Field Journal out of her satchel and began where she had last left off. 

Most of what she read was just scientific drabble but then something she read stuck out to her.

_This was indeed a nirnroot, but of a variety the likes of which I have never seen. The herb was awash in a spectacular array of red hues, each leaf seemingly emblazoned with innumerable variations of crimson. ___

__Crimson nirnroot? In all of her studies, Angela had never heard of such a thing. But the thought of a rare variation of nirnroot with undiscovered alchemical properties excited Angela in a way that nothing had in quite a long time. And so she went to sleep that night, daring to hope that she was on the brink of a breakthrough._ _

__When she woke that morning, she grabbed her satchel and something to eat from the Innkeeper before she went on her way. As she left the Inn she was stopped by a couple of mages who asked her if she knew anything in regards to the people who had gone missing. She left them, saying that she didn't know anymore about the disappearances than they did._ _

__In actuality though, she was shocked to hear that these disappearances were spreading. It was just a couple months ago that they had first started getting reports of people going missing. At first nobody paid it any mind, but now the frequency at which people were vanishing seemed to increasing. By Talos, what was this world coming to?_ _

__Angela was so lost in thought, she hardly noticed that she had reached her destination. The Mortar and Pestle. As she walked in, she was delighted to find the store empty. She walked up to the counter and started talking with the store owner. As she started rambling off ingredients she needed for the salve, she hardly noticed the door open again as another customer entered._ _

__Only after she finished her list and the shopkeeper went about collecting the ingredients did Angela take a moment to observe the newcomer. It was a woman tall and thin but aside from that there wasn't much she could tell about the stranger. Seeing that their body was obscured by a robe and their face was hidden behind a mask. As the shopkeeper returned she forgot about the stranger instead favoring to collect her things and go. Angela turned and was about to leave when she remembered what she had read last night._ _

__"One more thing before I leave. Have you ever heard of an ingredient called crimson nirnroot?"_ _

__The apothecary looked at her, clearly shocked by the question. But she answered anyway._ _

__"My grandmother used to tell me stories when I was your age, about a man who went mad looking for crimson nirnroot. Everyone told him that he was looking for something that didn't exist but he wouldn't listen to them. One day he got it in his head to go sniffing around dwemer ruins. Nobody ever saw him again. Listen to me when I tell you that it is best to forget about what you're looking for. It is only going cause you greif." The apothecary finally finished._ _

__Angela was taken aback by this news. She didn't know what to think of it. Here she was so close to something great and she was being told to back down. She needed some time to think about this. For right now, however, she had more immediate things to worry about. And with that she left._ _

__\--POV Shift--_ _

__Moira could hardly believe what she had just heard. She was still reeling when the shopkeeper tried to say something to her._ _

__"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Moira asked_ _

__"I said, is there anything I can get for you today?"_ _

__"Oh, no I'm just looking." Moira replied._ _

__"Well don't take too long. Wouldn't want you to hold up the rest of my customers." Came the response._ _

__"Actually would you happen to know the name of the man who came looking for that nirnroot?"_ _

__"Not you too." The shopkeeper said._ _

__"It just for research. I don't plan on looking for it." Moira lied._ _

__"Oh all right. If you must know, I believe the man's name was Sinderion."_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dyslexia was having a hay day while I was writing this chapter. If you find any spelling/grammar mistakes let me know in the comments. I'll get it fixed. 
> 
> As always   
> Love - Ri

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing. Please be kind, but also give me the constructive criticism. i need it.


End file.
